Wednesday, May 18, 2016

Picking my way through a minefield of tulips

In Canberra it has been freezing. The truth is that, while I enjoy the warm weather and especially autumn and spring when Canberra really shines, I like winter. It is the perfect time to think about gardens. Before long it will be time for transplanting and rearranging to reflect the uneven way the garden has been growing over the last 12 months. Before then, though, I’m looking forward to the tulips coming up.

The first shoots break their way through the leaf mulch

Last year for the first time I
planted tulips – a veritable minefield of them. When the neighbours
across the road moved into a retirement village – they had lived in this North
Canberra suburb since it was established in the mid 1960s – they offered me a
bucket of tulip bulbs. Of course I said yes. It took me hours to plant them. In
the end I ran out of garden.

I wondered how many would come up. Then stem by stem they
did. When I came back from two and a half weeks away on a regional road trip to
Adelaide, I was amazed that some were already flowering. Then they all started
flowering - every one. I decided to count them. There were well over 500 tulips
in my yard, in fact 535 – but who’s counting?

Last year: a minefield of tulips - and a wall of hedge.

Now I am waiting for them to explode in colour again. On a cold morning, with frost in the offing, I got excited when I saw the first tulip of the season appearing through the mulch. When I looked again, I realised there were four, then over the following weeks, many more. Soon there should be thousands. When I see that field of flowers I could forget every stupid arts funding decision or bad policy I have ever seen.

It’s a mighty minefield of tulips, ready to explode in colours of every hue. This is the only sort of ordnance that should be left in war-torn countries.

See also

'tableland' on Facebook – life on the land and at the table

'Life on the land and at the table, the companion Facebook site to this blog, for brief and topical snippets and vignettes about land to table – the daily routine of living in the high country, on the edge of the vast Pacific, just up from Sydney, just down from Mount Kosciuszko', 'tableland' on Facebook.

Wine o’clock in downtown Moss Vale
‘I've always had a weak spot for Moss Vale in the Southern Highlands of NSW. I have been watching it slowly change over the decades since. The latest addition is a new and very funky bar, Wine Mosaic Lounge, combined with a wine vendor, Argyle Street Wine Merchant. Passing through, we stopped to sample it. We thought aloud ‘we must come back here soon’ – and we will’, Wine o’clock in downtown Moss Vale.

Big city myopia, regional cities and cool capitals – is Canberra cool and who really cares?
'I’ve been entertained by the heated discussion about whether Canberra is cool or not. The question of regional cities and cool capitals is one that won’t go away. Instead of endlessly comparing cities – Melbourne versus Sydney, Melbourne versus Canberra, Canberra versus Queanbeyan, Devonport versus East Devonport (as we did in my youth) – to gauge their degree of cool or of dismal, perhaps we’d be better seeking out the interesting places and features that lurk in every city, town and locality', Big city myopia, regional cities and cool capitals – is Canberra cool and who really cares?

In a corner with a cake (or two) – the hidden attraction of local hangouts

‘Tucked away in a corner at the Ainslie shops where it’s easy to miss entirely ­– in the heart of the suburb know as the Red Centre for it’s exceptionally high Labor vote – is an unexpected delight. The location has hosted a series of less than successful ventures but this most recent has been an unqualified success. Who would have thought that a cafe hailing from Brittany could attract such a crowd. The secret of success is that it focuses on what it does and it does it well. You can park yourself inside the small venue or outside if the weather is fine and pick from some unexpected sweet pastries, throw down the odd glass of French wine or eat buckwheat pancakes or baguettes. The cafe also runs to daily specials that can be very unexpected. Long may it reign over us – Rule Brittany rather than Rule Britannia’, In a corner with a cake (or two) – the hidden attraction of local hangouts.We all scream for icecream – cooling down in a cold climate with Frugii
‘I realise I may have just become a statistic. I have a suspicion that I have eaten more sorbet, gelato and icecream since local Canberra icecream outlet Frugii opened in Canberra’s Braddon perimeter than I have eaten in my whole previous life. Tucked away in hipster heaven, it keeps churning out flavours, in an ever changing smorgasbord of coldness’, We all scream for icecream – cooling down in a cold climate with Frugii.

A bustling Friday night in hipster heaven
‘On a bustling Friday night in hipster heaven, I popped into my favourite Canberra restaurant, Italian and Sons, planning for little more than a quick bite to eat. I managed to get my favourite spot – when I’m not settled comfortably in Bacaro, the adjoining bar out the back, that is – sitting in the window, watching the action on the street. I headed straight for a real blast from my Adelaide past, part of my earliest discovery of Italian cuisine – saltimbocca. Then I beat a path down Lonsdale Street to Frugii, Canberra’s own dessert laboratory. What is happening to this city? It’s getting cooler by the minute and it’s not just the icecream or the approach of winter’, A bustling Friday night in hipster heaven.Peas in a pod – food takes off
‘Pod Food is in the heart of the slightly ramshackle gardening and nursery hub of Canberra, Pialligo , adjacent to the burgeoning exercise in urban growth called Canberra Airport. It was always the place you went to get large pots and even larger apples. Pod Food was always good enough – but now it is something a whole lot more impressive. On a rainy Friday I entered through their marvellous cottage garden entrance way to sit on the covered and contained outside deck. The entrance to Pod Food, formerly part of an operating nursery, is the sort of garden I eventually want to have. It felt highly suitable sitting at the entrance to the Australian high country as the rain came down, drinking the fine product of another high region on the opposite side of the world’, Peas in a pod – food takes off.

Vitello Tonnato for a life well lived in hipster heaven
‘It had been quite a week and I had been crushed by too many encounters with the crazy world of Centrelink as I fulfilled my long list of aged care responsibilities. I needed cheering up so last night ate out at the venerable Italian and Sons, the very first of the many funky venues which now enliven Braddon. My attention was drawn to the rare appearance of vitello tonnato. My imagination had been captured decades ago when I was a young boy by seeing the recipe for the dish in Margaret Fulton’s classic cookbook. I finally tried it in a tiny restaurant in Florence, during my first visit overseas, after a stint at the massive Frankfurt Book Fair in 1989. This most recent one was the best I have ever eaten outside my own home – well, perhaps the best anywhere. This is a favourite place, probably my most favourite in Canberra. Coming here always makes me feel happy and what more can you ask?’, Vitello Tonnato for a life well lived in hipster heaven.Eating out in a cold, funky city – Canberra comes of age in the Asian Century
‘On a day and night which was bitterly cold – as cold as Canberra has been this year, with the hint of snow clouds overhead – I was reminded why I live here. As we wandered along after a full day of cultural institutions and design events, looking for somewhere to eat we impetuously popped into Restaurant Eightysix and even more impetuously were able to get a table. I had forgotten reading somewhere that famed long-former Adelaide chef, Christine Manfield was here for the month, cooking up an Asian-inspired menu. How much better could it get?’, Eating out in a cold, funky city – Canberra comes of age in the Asian Century.Smoking for broke beside the Molongolo
‘Where the market gardens that supplied Canberra as far back as the 1820s used to be a small fortune has been spent turning 86 acres overlooking the Eastern end of Lake Burley Griffin into a superb regional restaurant, Pialligo Estate Farmhouse Restaurant. It made for a tremendous birthday lunch in a spacious airy and light space, full of exciting food treated well. I couldn’t take my eyes off the copper guttering and downpipes. I thought all the loose copper in the world had already been stolen but clearly it’s still available. It’s quite clear that even though work is still being finalised, when it is finished it will be a spectacular addition to the nation’s capital and the region’, Smoking for broke beside the Molongolo.

In praise of the Berra
‘When I first moved to Canberra, almost as an accidental intersection of geography and employment after the Sydney Olympics, I used to say “if you had lived in Sydney and one day you woke up and discovered you were in Canberra, you would think you had died.” Then I changed my mind. It took ten years but it was inevitable. Berrans are a hardy bunch – they can withstand the hot winds of summer and of Australia’s Parliament, the chill flurries from the Snowy Mountains and the chilling news of budget cuts. The Berra is half-way between everywhere’, In praise of the Berra.

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tableland

The daily routine of living in the high country – the Southern Tablelands of the eastern seaboard of Australia. Planting and growing, cooking and eating (and drinking) – and the arts and culture that springs from it and celebrates it. On the edge of the vast Pacific, just up from Sydney, just down from Mount Kosciuszko.

About Me

Stephen Cassidy is a cultural researcher and writer who has worked across the Australian cultural sector for 40 years. This has spanned policy, programs and research in government, museums, publishing, community arts and radio in four states and territories at national, state and local level. It has encompassed creative industries – including contemporary music and literature – intangible cultural heritage and Indigenous culture and languages. He was Director of the National Cultural Policy Task Force, wrote the proposal that initiated the Digital Content Industry Action Agenda, drafted the Indigenous Contemporary Music Action Plan and played an instrumental role in the adoption of Australia’s first National Indigenous Languages Policy. He has been a Community Arts Officer in local government, ACTU Arts Officer, Development Manager at community radio 2SER-FM and Membership Manager for the Powerhouse Museum. His writing has appeared in a range of publications, been recognised in various literary awards and competitions and included in several exhibitions. He is currently a member of ACT independent arts forum, the Childers Group, and an Adjunct with the University of Canberra.

My blogs

indefinite article: irreverent articles about contemporary Australian society, popular culture, the creative economy and the digital and online world – life in the trenches and on the beaches of the information age.

balloon: thought balloons for our strange and unsettled times – short, quirky articles about the eccentricities of everyday life, almost always with a sense of short black humour.

handwriting: homegrown graffiti from the digital world – writing, rhyming and digital animations.

tableland: land to table – the daily routine of living in the high country, on the edge of the vast Pacific, just up from Sydney, just down from Mount Kosciuszko.